A photo of the king tide at Durham Town Landing taken at the Durham Site Tour for the NHCAW King Tides Photo Contest. (SRPC credit)

Greetings,

Happy Friday! I hope everyone has some fun, and warm, indoor plans for the frigid weekend upon us. I will be curled up with some hot cocoa with a weekend goal of finishing my "I love NH" puzzle.

Here at SRPC we are finalizing our Regional Housing Needs Assessment, are beginning our Housing Navigator program with the Towns of New Durham and Farmington, and are drafting chapters for the Barrington and Strafford master plans.

In this issue you will find information on NNECAPA’s call for sessions; planning events of interest; SRPC’s new Safe Streets for All project; funding opportunities; staff news including our newest staff member and a promotion; public input opportunities on the seacoast, statewide and in Dover; and community happenings.     

Until Next Month,  

Shayna Sylvia 

IN THIS ISSUE

NNECAPA Call for Sessions

Planning Events of Interest 

SRPC's Safe Streets for All project

Grant Corner

Staff News: Welcome, Promotion and Goodbye

Public Input Opportunities

Community Happenings  

NH Listens: Basic Facilitator Training (ONLINE) - Wednesday, Feb. 8 from 12:00-12:30 p.m.

Join the UNH Carsey School of Public Policy for an introductory training for key facilitator concepts and tips for facilitating online and in person outreach. including drawing people in, managing productive conversations, and strengthening facilitator skills.

Register online. 

(OPD) Planning Lunches at Noon (PLAN) Monthly Webinar Series “Navigating the Planning and Zoning Board Handbooks: What’s New in the 2022 Editions?” – Thursday, Feb. 16 from noon - 1 p.m.

Join Noah Hodgetts, Principal Planner and Alvina Snegach, Assistant Planner in the OPD who will discuss changes in the recently published 2022 editions of OPD’s The Planning Board in New Hampshire A Handbook for Local Officials (“Planning Board Handbook”) and The Board of Adjustment in New Hampshire: A Handbook for Local Officials (“Zoning Board Handbook”).

This webinar will also introduce a new resource, Federal and State Planning and Zoning Case Law for New Hampshire Local Officials, that was once part of the Board of Adjustment Handbook (“Zoning Board Handbook”) but was made its own publication starting in 2022 and expanded to include planning board related cases.

This hour-long webinar will include an overview of the OPD training mandate, and a review of the legislative related changes made to the Planning and Zoning Board Handbooks based on the legislation approved in 2022. Noah and Alvina will take you through each amendment explaining how it applies to the board business. There will also be time for questions and answers at the end of the webinar.

Registration for this webinar is open, please register by filling out this webinar registration form. You will receive a confirmation email from Microsoft Teams, which will include an attached calendar meeting that can be saved to your calendar (you may need to check your spam folder). 

SRPC and its partner Metropolitan Planning Organizations (Nashua, Rockingham, and Southern RPCs) were recently awarded a grant through the Safe Streets and Roads for All program (SS4A).

This funding, totaling $220,000, will allow project partners to hire and work with a consultant to develop comprehensive safety action plans for each MPO region.

The work will be done in close collaboration with NHDOT and each MPO's municipalities.

The final plan will include goals, objectives, and specific safety improvement projects that follow the “safe systems approach.” This emphasizes eliminating crashes that result in fatalities and serious injuries. Completion of the action plans will ensure the MPO's municipalities are eligible to apply for project implementation funding in future rounds of the SS4A program. 

Learn more about this program and the projects funded online.

EPA Grants Deadline Extended - Due Feb. 15, 2023 

In 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new recycling grant opportunities funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 

Through the Recycling Education and Outreach grant program, towns and cities can apply for grants between $250,000 and $2 million to improve consumer education and outreach on waste prevention, reuse, recycling, and composting.

Through the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling grant program, towns and cities can apply for grants between $500,000 and $4 million to improve materials management and infrastructure for recycling and composting. 

Applications for both programs are now due February 15, 2023. The estimated start date for projects awarded grants is October 2023, and all project activities must be completed within three years.

Learn more about these grant opportunities and how NRRA member communities can apply. 

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) - Various Deadlines

The Community Development Block Grant is now accepting applications for all its programs for the 2023 calendar year. CDBG offers funding in program areas like economic development (rolling, 1/1-6/30), microenterprise (due 3/17), emergency(rolling, 1/1-6/30), planning (rolling, 1/1-6/30) among others. Learn about all of CDBG's funding online.

SRPC Welcomes Courtney Grugnale, Housing Navigator

Strafford Regional Planning Commission welcomes Courtney Grugnale, who started as SRPC's Housing Navigator on Jan. 9.

Courtney will be working with the towns of Farmington and New Durham to address housing shortages, challenges, and opportunities. She will primarily engage with community members, build partnerships and community support, provide technical assistance to land use boards, staff, and applicants, perform land use application reviews, assist with implementation of local planning initiatives, and conduct audits of local regulations.

This position is funded through the InvestNH Municipal Planning & Zoning Grant Program administered by Plan NH (Program Administrator) on behalf of the NH Housing and Finance Authority.

When not at work, Courtney enjoys watching Netflix, reading, and shopping at Target.

Please join us in welcoming Courtney!

SRPC Promotes Mark Davie to Regional Planner

Mark Davie, who recently completed his Master's Degree in Urban & Regional Planning from West Chester University, has been promoted to regional planner.

Mark started as a data collection intern in May 2021, and remained on staff part time while finishing his degree.

As a regional planner, Mark with continue to help run the summer data collection program, is working with his colleagues to finalize the Regional Housing Needs Assessment, is about to launch into the 2023 data snapshot with senior data analyst Rachel Dewey, and will be assisting Northwood as its Town Planner, in addition to other outreach tasks for Strafford MPO.

Please join us in congratulating Mark!

SRPC Thanks Intern Adam Salamone

Municipal record digitization assistant Adam Salamone started at SRPC in July 2022 to assist with the municipal record digitization project.

In his 6 months at SRPC, Adam was eager to assist wherever needed. He was helpful in many projects like the Barrington Master Plan, and with finishing out the traffic and bike/ped count season. Adam also assisted with many IT tasks including creating staff training and process documentation. Following the end of the record digitization project, he created training materials so that municipalities can now borrow the scanning equipment to continue their record digitization efforts.

We extend a huge thanks to Adam and wish him success in his future endeavors.

Like Father, Like Son

Senior Transportation Planner Colin Lentz took his son Oliver on his first COAST (and public transit) ride during the month of January.  

Oliver also recently celebrated his second birthday! Do we have a transportation planner in the making? Only time will tell! 

Voting in the NH Coastal Adaptation Workgroup (CAW) Rising Tides Photo Contest is open until 11:59 p.m. this evening!

NH CAW received 70 photos, from 26 photographers, in 11 communities across New Hampshire’s coastal watershed and is now asking that people join in and vote for the photos that best “picture change” from or “picture resilience” to high tide flooding in New Hampshire’s coastal communities.

The photos that receive the most votes in each category win. Winners will be announced no later than February 8 and will receive a $50 gift card to a local restaurant of their choosing. Limit one vote per entry per email address. Full details available in the contest rules.

For all contest updates, follow @nhcaw on Twitter and @nhcoastaladaptation on Facebook and Instagram. With questions, please contact Lucy Perkins at Lucy.L.Perkins@des.nh.gov or 603-559-9101.

NH State Plan on Aging Survey

The New Hampshire Bureau of Elderly and Adult Services (BEAS) is starting to draft its next three-year plan and is looking for input from people living in the Granite State.

In order to receive feedback BEAS has launched its State Plan on Aging survey as part of a statewide outreach effort to better understand the needs of people who are aging in New Hampshire.

The survey is open until Feb. 17, so share your input now!

Distinctly Dover Virtual Visioning

The City of Dover via its Distinctly Dover project will hold a virtual visioning session on Thursday, Feb. 9. Virtual doors open at 5:45 PM and the program will run from 6:00 - 7:30 PM. This interactive session will provide an opportunity to inform Dover's community vision for 2035!

Registering for this event will ensure that you receive the virtual login information ahead of time to access the visioning session.

Please register by Feb. 9 at noon. 

Winter Wildlife Tracking

for All Ages



Feb. 18 from 9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Join Emma Tutein, Natural Resources and Land Conservation Field Specialist from UNH Cooperative Extension, for a winter hike and exploration of Birch Ridge Community Forest. Along the way we will look for signs of wildlife, which may include tracks, scat, shrub grazes, pellets, sleeping patches, and rubs. Pack lunch if you’d like to enjoy a winter picnic. This field trip is intended for all ages.

• Difficulty: Easy to moderate
• You can read our COVID-19 Safety Policy here: www.seltnh.org/covid19/
• Donate to support SELT’s Outreach Program now: CLICK HERE
• Registration required –www.tinyurl.com/seltoutreach

Winter Market

Feb. 24, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Join the Friends of Farmington for its three session Winter Market, the next being Feb. 24, with a final market on Mar. 24.

The event will be held at 480 Main St., Farmington with local vendors sending food, craft, and other handmade products.

For more info call 603-978-5741.